Zomato.com plans expansion

Observing this as a big business opportunity, zomato.com, the new-age start-up website started by a pair of young Delhi-based entrepreneurs, has created a comprehensive food guide online, which has more than 20,000 restaurants listed across 10 big cities in the country and is enroute to spreading out even further.  

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Zomato co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Pankaj Chaddah says that zomato.com lists a number of restaurants and eating places based on a series of categories such as cuisine, budget, with or without bar and parking facilities among others. Users can rate restaurants and also publish written reviews on them.

“Monthly, the website receives around 15 lakh users, besides 4 lakh registered members,” Chaddah says, adding that the site expects the number of people accessing it to go up by 7 per cent, week-on-week.

When accessed, the site presents a lot of information about restaurants, besides their address, contact details, menu and tariffs, allowing the user to interact and know more about them before taking a call.

It provides detailed pages on restaurants ranging from the most popular street food jaunts, to nightlife destinations and to the most exotic gourmet dining experiences, including those at luxury hotels. Chaddah claims that 95 per cent of these restaurants have their addresses given, with 80 per cent of them having their pictures published on the site too.

 “We organised the website based on people’s behavioural patterns and their cultural set up,” Chaddah says.

Relavent details

Since the Indian consumers seek very minute specifics on the site when they explore restaurants, Zomato equips them with the most relavent details possible, compelling them to return for more and also provide valuable feedback. The company also eyes foraying into other locations in the country as well, depending on the number of users it receives.

Zomato has raised $4 million in venture funding. Recently, it also added an events section on its site where members are intimated about ongoing and forthcoming food fests. The company is contemplating ticket servicing for such events, Chaddah concludes.